Billy Beane’s A’s, the pending trade deadline, the big deal three weeks ago, and the high significance of N-O-W

Billy Beane diligently picked up his trade-deadline FasTrak three weeks ago, and now he’s moving quickly while almost everybody else is stuck in a bit of gridlock.

Though Beane’s A’s have sputtered a time or two, for the most part they’re whizzing through July without any need to stop and reassess themselves.

And yes, the A’s general manager has every right to feel good about that, as the trade lanes clog up before Thursday’s deadline.

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He made the deal for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel way back on July 4, the A’s still have the best record in baseball, and if Beane wants to try to make another deal by Thursday he can.

If he doesn’t make a deal, that’s fine, too.

“One of the reasons we did that deal when we did it—other than getting a longer period with the players—is that the last few days before the deadline can get kind of hectic, almost like a traffic jam to some extent,” Beane said in a phone interview on Tuesday.

“You try to avoid getting caught up in traffic. It’s like at a horse race—if you get a bad post position and caught up in the pack, it’s tough to get caught up.”

The point is, Beane sacrificed a lot by giving up top prospect Addison Russell but Samardzija already made his fifth start for the A’s on Tuesday.

That’s five more than any pitcher acquired in the next two days will get for their new team.

Plus, the A’s still have Tommy Milone in triple-A as an option if Hammel continues to struggle.
Or, Beane could see what Milone or Drew Pomeranz can fetch in trade—for a second baseman? An outfielder?—over the next few feverish days.

“Listen, I think it would be sort of malpractice not to involve yourself in what’s going on this week,” Beane said. “You don’t know where things will go and you have to check and see.

“But I think you hit the nail on the head, our biggest move was probably done.”

Though Milone has reportedly asked for a trade, it doesn’t sound like the A’s are too interested in cutting into their pitching surplus quite yet.

Milone was pitching terrifically when he was demoted after the A’s acquired Samardzija and Hammel; if they need another starter down the stretch, Milone is just a phone call away.

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“From a business standpoint, we’ve go a nice option if we need it,” Beane said of Milone. “Everyone at this point is looking for starting pitching depth and with Tommy, given the way he pitched, we have that.

“Unless there’s something that makes us a better baseball team right now, I think it’d be shortsighted to give up starting pitching now when we might be looking for that exact same thing in a week or two.”

These are the luxuries of the A’s position right now—they could add a little salary here or there; or they could sit tight.

They’re built to win now, and they have zero outrageous salary commitments to make them panic about the future.

If you want a stark comparison, just look at the Giants’ current scramble to find any affordable body that can give them a quality at-bat or six strong innings.

The A’s are the opposite of that, deep enough to absorb some recent injuries in the outfield, a few slumps here and there… and just keep driving towards 100 victories.

Billy, what do you specifically like about this year’s team so far?

“If you look at this group of players, it’s the consistency,” Beane said. “I think they’ve got the record for most consecutive winning months for the franchise, goes back to… July of 2012.

“To put up a winning record that many times, that shows the ability to sort of celebrate today–if you win–but then leave it behind when you play the next day.

“You focus on the moment… and this team has been focused on that from Day 1.”

Beane does have some looming contract situations–Jed Lowrie and Hammel are due to become free agents after this season and then Samardzija, Yoenis Cespedes and Scott Kazmir are due after the 2015 season.

But after losing so many headline players due to salary concerns in the past, Beane is serene about any future headaches.

“When all those issues come to a head at some point, we’ll deal with them,” Beane said. “But it’s too early to start stressing…

“What I say around here is I’ll worry about two years from now in two years.”

The A’s are loaded, and they’ve prepared for the trade deadline by jumping ahead of everybody else, basically.
Which is a reminder that the most important thing for the A’s and Beane now… is now.